Three leagues have played under arena football rules: the AFL, which played 22 seasons from 1987 to 2008 and resumed play under new ownership in 2010; arenafootball2, the AFL's erstwhile developmental league, which played 10 seasons from 2000 through 2009, and the CAFL, which began play in 2016 but is not directly affiliated with the AFL.

History

While attending the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) All-Star game on February 11 1981, at Madison Square Garden, Jim Foster came up with his version of football and wrote the rules and concepts down on the outside of a manila folder, which resides at the Arena Football Hall of Fame. Over the next five years, he created a more comprehensive and definitive set of playing rules, playing field specifications and equipment, along with a business plan to launch a proposed small, initial league to test market the concept of arena football nationally. As a key part of that plan, while residing in the Chicago area, he tested the game concept through several closed door practice sessions in late 1985 and early 1986 in nearby Rockford. After fine tuning the rules, he then secured additional operating capital to play several test games in the MetroCentre in April 1986, and the Rosemont Horizon Arena in February 1987.

AFL football operations and training was overseen by veteran college and pro head coach, Mouse Davis, the father of the famed "run and shoot" offense, (which became the basis for the high scoring arena football offense still in use today). The other two 1987 teams were the Chicago Bruisers and the Denver Dynamite, (the ArenaBowl I champions). As the AFL grew into an established league with close to 20 teams, it defined itself as a major market pro sports product and welcomed commissioner C. David Baker (1996 - 2008). In the early 2000s the league appeared to have financially strong team ownership including NFL owners, as well as major names in the entertainment world, and, for a while, a weekly Sunday afternoon broadcast on NBC starting the week after the Super Bowl, during the stadium-played game's off season. The growth and establishment of the AFL as a major market league spawned a developmental league that Foster also helped co-found, a minor league called Arena Football 2 (af2), in 2000. The league was set up to operate in medium size markets around the U.S. where it initially enjoyed growth under the guidance of af2 president Jerry Kurz. Many other people have started their own indoor football minor leagues. These leagues do not technically play arena football or use the proper name "Arena Football" which is a registered trademark, and initially because of the patent on the rules (specifically for the rebound nets, and related rules[1]) that Foster obtained in 1990 (which was actually held by Gridiron Enterprises, Inc., of which Foster is one of three partners). The other two partners were Chicago based lawyers Bill Niro and Jerry Kurz, who in early 1987 joined Foster to help secure the patents on the Arena Football game system and re-establish the Arena Football League in early 1990 as a franchised league after successfully removing a small group of limited partners for multiple breaches of the limited partnership agreement that was the basis for operating the AFL during the 1988 season. The patents expired in 2007.[2] The trademarks only cover the words "arena football" in that order and in immediate succession; since 2017, other indoor leagues have described themselves as "arena" leagues in their name without official endorsement from Gridiron Enterprises (for example, the National Arena League and Arena Pro Football).

Rules of the game

The field

Arena football is played exclusively indoors, in arenas usually designed for either basketball or ice hockey teams. The field is the same width (85feet) and length (200feet) as a standard NHL hockey rink, making it approximately a third of the dimensions of a regular American gridiron football field. The scrimmage area is 50 yards long (unlike the field in NFL which is 100 yards long), and each end zone is approximately eight yards deep. Depending on the venue in which a game is being played, the end zones may be rectangular (like a basketball court) or, where necessary because of the building design, rounded (like a hockey rink). Each sideline has a heavily padded barrier, with the padding placed over the hockey dasher boards.

The goalpost uprights are 9feet wide, and the crossbar is 15feet above the playing surface. Taut rebound nets on either side of the posts bounce any missed field goals back into the field of play. The ball is "live" when rebounding off these nets or their support apparatus. The entire goalframe and goalside rebound net system is suspended on cables from the rafters. The bottom of the two goalside rebound nets are 8feet off the playing surface. Each netframe is 32feet high by 30feet wide.

A player is not counted as out of bounds on the sidelines unless he is pushed into or falls over the sideline barrier. This rule was put in place before the 2006 season. Before that time, a sideline with only a small amount of space (typically 6" to 12") existed between the sideline stripe and the barrier which would provide the space for a ball carrier to step out of bounds before hitting the sideline barrier.

The players

Each team fields 8 players at a time from a 21-man active roster. Before 2007, players played both offense and defense except for the Quarterback, Kicker, and Offensive Specialist (Wide Receiver/Running Back combination) and two Defensive Specialists (Defensive Backs).

Substitution rules

Rules before 2007 season

If a player enters and leaves, from the moment he leaves the player is considered "dead" and cannot return to play until the designated time is served.

For two-way players "dead" time is one quarter.

For specialists "dead" time is one half.

Exception: a "dead" player may participate on kickoffs, or as long snapper or holder. In 2006, the AFL changed its substitution rules such that free substitutions were allowed on all kickoffs.

New rules for 2007 season

The most significant change was the introduction of free substitution, the so-called "Elway Rule". Previously, AFL coaches were limited to one substitution per position per quarter. Since the 2007 season, coaches can substitute players at will.

The rationale was that free substitution would improve the overall quality of football in the league by giving coaches the freedom to put their best players on the field for every play of the game, and that teams would be able to select from a wider player talent pool when building their rosters. Traditionalists, however, believed the rule changes were the beginning of the removal of the "Ironman" (two-way offense and defense) style of play of arena football that the league had actively promoted for 20 seasons, and that removing the "Ironman" style of play took away a key component of what made arena football a distinctive sport over other versions of football (NFL, CFL, other indoor leagues, etc.).

Formations

Four offensive players must be on the line of scrimmage at the snap; one of the linemen must declare himself the tight end. One offensive player may be moving forward at the time of the snap as long as he has not yet crossed the line of scrimmage. Three defensive players must be in a three- or four-point stance at the start of the snap. Two defenders serve as linebackers, called the Mac and the Jack. The Mac may blitz from the side of the line opposite the offensive Tight End. The Jack's role has changed after new rules set in place by the league in 2008. The Jack cannot blitz, but under new, more defense-friendly rules, the Jack Linebacker may roam sideline to sideline within five yards of the line of scrimmage and drop into coverage once the Quarterback pump fakes.[3] (Before this rule, the Jack could not drop back into coverage until the ball is thrown or the quarterback is no longer in the pocket, and the Jack had to stay within the box designated by the outside shoulders of the offensive line, the line of scrimmage, and five (5) yards back from the line of scrimmage.)

Ball movement

The ball is kicked off from the goal line, to start the halves and odd overtimes, or after any score. The team with the ball is given four downs to gain ten yards or score. Punting is illegal because of the size of the playing field, however, a field goal that either misses wide (therefore bouncing off the nets surrounding the goalposts) or falls short, may be returned. Thus an impossibly long field goal is tantamount to a punt in other football variants. A receiver jumping to catch a pass needs to get only one foot down in bounds for the catch to be ruled a completed catch, just as in college football. Practically, this means that one foot must touch the ground before the receiver is pushed into the boards by an opposing player. Passes that bounce off the rebound nets remain "live." Balls that bounce off the padded walls that surround the field are "live"; the end zone walls were not live until the 2006 season.

Scoring

The scoring is the same as in the NFL with the addition of a drop kick field goal worth four points during normal play or two points as a post-touchdown conversion. Blocked extra points and turnovers on two-point conversion attempts may be returned by the defensive team for two points.

Coaching challenges

Coaches are given 2 (two) challenges per game, as in the NFL; to do so, they must throw the red flag before the next play. If the play stands as called after the play is reviewed they lose a timeout; however, if the play is reversed they keep their timeouts. If a team wins two straight challenges they are granted a third. All challenges are automatic in the final minute of each half and all overtime periods, as they are on all scoring plays and turnovers.

Timing

Current timing rules

A game has four 15-minute quarters with a 15-minute halftime (ArenaBowl has a 30-minute interval). Teams are allowed three timeouts per half, and two per overtime period if regulation ends tied.

The clock stops for out-of-bounds plays, incomplete passes, or sacks only in the last minute of each half or overtime (there is only a one-minute warning, as opposed to the two-minute warning in the NFL and the three-minute warning in the CFL) or because of penalties, injuries or timeouts. The clock also stops for any change in possession, until the ball is marked ready for play; for example, aside from in a half's final minute, time continues to run down after a touchdown, but stops after an extra point or two-point conversion attempt. If a quarter ends as a touchdown is scored, an untimed conversion attempt takes place. The play clock is 32 seconds, starting at the end of the previous play. In all arenas, the final minute of the period is measured in tenths of a second.

Prior to the 2018 season, during the final minute of the fourth quarter, the clock stopped if the offensive team had the lead and did not advance the ball past the line of scrimmage. This prevented the "victory formation" (the offensive team merely kneeling down), or running other plays that are designed solely to exhaust the remaining time rather than to advance the ball downfield. This rule was eliminated in the interest of player safety.

In the first overtime, each team gets one possession to score. Whoever is ahead after one possession wins. If the teams are tied after each has had a possession, true sudden death rules apply thereafter. Each overtime period is 15 minutes, and continues from the ending of the previous overtime period until the tie is broken. All overtimes thereafter are true sudden death; no games can be tied. An exception is applied to second game of the 2018 semifinal series, provided one team wins the first game and the second game ends with the two-game aggregate score tied, the game will continue with a standard overtime even if the score of the second game is not tied.

Previous timing rule changes

Before the 2007 season, there was one 15-minute overtime period, and if it expired with the teams still tied, the game was recorded as a tie. There were two ties in AFL history before the 2007 rule change (although a cancelled game in 2015 was simply ruled a tie):

Another, probably the second most notable behind Warner, could be Fred Jackson, although he never technically played arena football. Jackson played indoor football with the Sioux City Bandits in 2004 when they played in the NIFL (2004) and the UIF in 2005 before finally moving on to NFL Europa's Rhein Fire in 2006, then to the NFL after Rhein.

EA Sports released a video game titled simply Arena Football on February 9, 2006 (although the company's website lists a release date of February 7). It featured licensed players and arenas from the Arena Football League. A sequel, , was released in 2007.

In the movie The Ringer, an early scene at the bar shows an Arena Football League game and the characters think about betting on the sport.

In 2001, writer Jeff Foley published War on the Floor: An Average Guy Plays in the Arena Football League and Lives To Write About It. The book details the journalist's two preseasons (1999 and 2000) as an Offensive specialist / writer with the now-defunct Albany Firebirds. The 5'6", self-described "unathletic" writer played in three preseason games and recorded one reception for -2 yards.

During the opening sequence of , two unnamed characters can be seen playing arena football.

In the 2008 film Baby Mama, one of the characters tried to win AFL tickets through a radio call-in contest.

In the first season of the television show Vegas, there was a scene about the ArenaBowl, where former Broncos QB John Elway and singer Jon Bon Jovi have a 'Battle in the Monteceto.'

In America's Game, the 2002 Buccaneers' coach Jon Gruden mentions that his brother plays arena football for the Orlando Predators.

In The Simpsons, Springfield has an arena football team called the Springfield Stun. It is first revealed when Bart and Milhouse are trying to plan their next adventure and Milhouse mentions "Arena football with the Springfield Stun?"

In the television show, The Office, there are multiple references to Arena Football. Based in Scranton, Michael Scott is seen wearing Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers sweatshirts and undershirts in various episodes. The Pioneers played in af2 from 2002 to 2009. Also, a few of the Dunder-Mifflin employees have a miniature version of the AFL's gold ball with blue strip on their desks.

In 2016, the American Dad! episode "Roots" dealt with the proposed construction of an arena for the new local arena football team, the Langley Falls Bazooka Sharks. It returned in the 2017 episode "Bazooka Steve."